Let's org it

The corporate world and its orgs. It's layers, pods and tiger teams. Its tangle of levels, people listed in columns in boxes, structured this way and that, to tackle projects from "the business." People leaders who know people, who worked together at this huge corp or that one, or share an alma mater. Alongside the others, the self-made men and women with the hustle gene to make it happen without the red carpet welcome, jumping over any roadblock they encounter and somehow, by hook or crook, they rise, too.  

And for what? In technology at least, it's like the word 'the'--don't think about it too long or it becomes senseless. Massive big data and information, terabytes to be managed and analyzed, and now generative AI, all being applied via high-priced services so someone can streamline a supply chain, increase value, speed growth, cut costs. Which all leads to a sale of something to someone. To someone buying something. A whole world of humans, spending hours and hours of their lives each week, month and year in the unending circle of selling things to each other. 

Let's go back to the barter system. I have this butternut squash. Can I get a new Volvo? This year I built a greenhouse in my backyard. I am far more interested in a new seedling coming up than what's happening amid my holding pen of fellow workers, all pulling for the shareholders, for a salary that, if not negotiated high enough to begin with, starts looking not so great, even if their job of keeping you busy isn't going so well and you find yourself a bit bored during the workday. Quiet quitting anyone? 

Advice: save lots and save early. Enjoy freebies early, be thrifty, then rest on your pile of cash in the later years to enjoy the better stuff. But, do enjoy it! Travel, buy the fancy car, eat the truffles. Because you probably earned it as a cog in a wheel of a company that made millions for the few, and shared a fraction of that with the rest.